ABSTRACT
The Columbia and the Senegal international river basins are paradigmatic case studies regarding the establishment of international river basin organizations (IRBOs) and the associated equitable sharing of benefits in shared international waters. The Columbia and the Senegal are also possible models for good governance as they have relatively high functioning IRBOs. This chapter briefly and critically reviews the Columbia and Senegal river basins, and the roles their respective IRBOs have played in establishing and maintaining equitable benefit-sharing arrangements and addressing tensions. 1 The hypothesis to be tested is whether the Columbia and Senegal support the proposition that the establishment of an IRBO and benefit-sharing arrangements could help address tensions associated with the conservation and management of global transboundary shared international waters and whether the lessons learned could be transferrable.
